OT alumna receives award from TOTA

By Kate Hunger 

Kathryn Crane, OTR, (MOT ’17) received the 2019 Horizon Award from the Texas Occupational Therapy Association at its annual conference on Nov. 2.

The award acknowledges outstanding contributions to the profession by an occupational therapy practitioner who has been in the profession for fewer than five years. 

Crane provides early childhood intervention occupational therapy services at Easter Seals San Antonio. Before discovering her passion for occupational therapy, she worked as a Pilates instructor after graduating from The University of Texas at Austin with a degree in kinesiology.

“I loved helping people feel their best, but I wanted to take that and do something more with it,” she says. 

So Crane began volunteering with Kinetic Kids, where she found her love for early childhood intervention. 

“I realized, ‘Oh my gosh, this is what I want to do,” she recalled.

Crane goes to her patients so that they can receive services in their natural, familiar environment. 

“We are more of a coaching model,” she explained. “I get to help the families feel very empowered.”

In addition to her work with children and families, Crane has helped create a standardized occupational therapy evaluation form for Easter Seals and has written articles for Easter Seals’ newsletter for parents. She said the rich field experiences she had at UT Health San Antonio prepared her to hit the ground running in her practice. 

“I am so happy that I chose UT Health because my professors are just as passionate,” she said. 

Having a graduate of the MOT program receive the Horizon Award is gratifying, said Occupational Therapy Department Chair and Associate Professor Bridgett Piernik-Yoder, Ph.D., OTR.

“It is such a wonderful recognition of the quality and caliber of our OT graduates and the impact they make,” she said.